Plant & Pest Advisory > Commercial Ag Updates and Farm Food Safety

Plant & Pest Advisory > Vegetable Crops

Contact Information

The points of contact between Rutgers Cooperative Extension Service and the grower & business communities are the NJ County Agricultural Agents. The agents are a tremendous source of information for both new and experienced growers. Visit your local county extension office.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Farm Food Safety: Farm Mapping

Part 2 of Preparing Your Farm Food Safety Plan

-Meredith Melendez and Wes Kline

Farm mapping is a familiar thing for growers in New Jersey. Field maps, pesticide storage maps and customer maps are regular tasks, but mapping for food safety? Mapping your farm with food safety in mind allows you to manage the physical characteristics of the farm to minimize microbial contamination hazards.

Hand drawn maps are acceptable for an audit, but if you want a computer generated map, or an aerial image, there are several free resources that you can use. The easiest to use is the My Maps section of Google Maps, located at: www.maps.google.com. Just plug in your farm’s physical address, zoom in so the map shows the entire farm and print. You can then hand draw in the details required for the food safety maps or trace the prominent features of the farm onto a clean sheet of paper and add in the required components. Another good resource
is the USDA Web Soil Survey which can be found at http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/HomePage.htm. Your local FSA also has aerial photo maps that could be used. Simple computer drawn maps, like the ones shown in the Henderson Farm Plan, can be created using standard computer software such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Publisher.

What map(s) will you need for your food safety plan?

Field map
The field map will most likely be much like what you currently use for planning crop rotations and schedules.
Field maps need to include, where applicable:

Fields uniquely numbered with crops indicated

Farm roadways

Indoor growing facilities such as high tunnels, greenhouses, etc.

Farm buildings including barns, and other structures

Packing house location

Water systems. You have the option of including this in your field map or in a separate map, whichever is easier for you to do. (Water systems will be discussed in a separate area below)

Animal waste storage areas, including compost

Animal housing and grazing areas

Packing House Layout

The packing house layout should have enough detail so the auditor can see the flow of product into, through and out of the packing house.

The packing house layout needs to include, where applicable:

Washing and grading line

Packing line

Receiving area

Office

Crate/box etc. storage area

Cold room

Loading area

Restrooms

Wash stations

Doorways

Rodent traps

Break room

Employee belongings storage

Water System Map

Sources of water and methods of protecting that water from contamination

Permanent fixtures such as wells, gates, reservoirs, valves, returns, under ground main and any above ground water transportation systems

Flow of water system including holding reservoirs and water capturing for re-use

These maps should have enough detail so the auditor can easily use them to locate its components. The maps should be kept accurate by reviewing them annually and make changes as needed. Once the maps are created not only will they be one more piece of the food safety certification package, but they will also help you consider safer and more efficient methods of production.